Metro East Sun

City of Edwardsville Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee met Oct. 4.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

The regularly scheduled meeting of the Edwardsville Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee was held at 5:00 p.m. at City Hall located at 118 Hillsboro Avenue in Edwardsville, Illinois.

I. ROLL CALL: 

Present

Jo Gibson, Chair

Susan Hume, Vice Chair

Paul Brazier

Musonda Kapatamoyo Emily Morrison

Stephanie Robbins

Jason Stacy

Steve Stuart

Breana Buncher, Staff 

Cathy Hensley, Staff

Ben Jenkins

Absent

Danielle Adair 

Greg Brumitt

II. PUBLIC COMMENT: Ben, realtor, is avid about making communities walkable was in attendance.

Kapatamoyo asked what are the benefits within a market that make it cost more. Ben said that people are willing to pay more in order to have that benefit.

III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Stacy made a motion to approve the minutes of September 6, 2023; second by Hume. Motion passed unanimously.

IV.OLD BUSINESS:

a. Bike/Walk Bus Discussion: Stacy stated that the Lincoln route has been consistently successful, 4-6 riders in the morning and afternoon. Will Bauer, from NPR, interviewed Stacy and some participants and he met with Will to talk about the program. Liberty route had zero riders. Stacy said that bike bus riders are usually 3rd-5th grade and that is possibly how we could shift the bike bus program to get more riders. Kapatamoyo asked if we could have swag to have more of an incentive to do the program. Discussion ensued on how to make improvements for the spring.

b. Social Media Post Progress: BPAC had a break in posting because of the bike bus, Morrison asked to have pedestrian/bike tips that is Halloween themed.

c. Bike & Hike 2024 Discussion - Policy Initiative: Gibson said she wanted to focus on the policy changes that BPAC wants to promote as a committee to have elected officials buy into it that would mean that BPAC should choose what to focus on. Morrison said that the event could focus on people using the crosswalks to get there. Gibson said to focus on one issue to move forward on, possibly the "slow-down, down town". Gibson is going to talk to IDOT about why 45 MPH on Troy Road (Target to Monclaire Shopping Center). Morrison said that slowing traffic and making it more bike/ped accessible is in line with the bike/ped master plan.

d. BPAC Membership Update- Buncher indicated that the Mayor had received a few recommendations for who to fill the vacancy and there hasn't been a decision at this time.

V. NEW BUSINESS: 

a. Election of Secretary- There was not a volunteer for anyone to take minutes. BPAC asked that Buncher talk minutes if ordinance allows for it. Decision on BPAC Secretary will be tabled until next month.

b. Volunteers for Public Safety Open House on October 7th at 9am to 2pm- Gibson asked for members from BPAC to attend this event to show their support of the event. The firefighter's union will give out helmets and BPAC will fit them properly. Brazier said that he could do 9-11am. Morrison said that she could attend from 12:30-2pm and Gibson will be there 11-12:30.

c. Bicycle Benefits Program- Robbins said that they will provide a starting kit and consultation to any organization that wants to initiate this type of program. Users would go around to businesses to get a discount if they biked there. Users would have to show their sticker on their helmets to get the discount. There is a spot on Bicycle Benefits Program website that shows what cities have them. Hume said this could be an interest point for businesses that are interested in being bicycle friendly and could help them have a starting point in becoming a bicycle friendly business if they wanted to do that. St. Louis does this. Discussion mentioned purchasing the starter kit and seeing how we can work towards this. Stephanie said that it is $125 to get the starter packet to give out to businesses.

d. Before and After School Traffic Congestion- Claire lott emailed Gibson about congestion at Lincoln Middle School due to parents dropping off and picking up because you can't make it through the stop light. lott asked to do a survey of parents on why they drop off their kids and several other questions. Steve Stuart stated that D7 has all of the information on the questions asked. Parents want to drive their kids, congestion is bad mostly at all schools, most parents say that their students have after school activities, musical instruments, or sporting gear and they don't want to have their students deal with that on a bus or walking to school. BPAC needs to work on solution of encouraging students to bike/ped to help with the issues.

e. BPAC Meeting Time Discussion- Tabled until next month for Danielle Adair to discuss moving until 5:30pm.

VI. ADJOURNMENT:

With no further business to discuss, Chairperson Gibson adjourned the meeting.

https://www.cityofedwardsville.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_10042023-3151